handbag

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A small bag carried in the hand, used either when travelling or to carry tools for a…

   A small bag carried in the hand, used either when travelling or to carry tools for a specific job.

   • From a little hand-bag he extracted his automatic pistol, which he put upon the mantelpiece.
   • I put on my new suit and put my watch on and packed the other suit and the accessories and my razor and brushes in my hand bag […].
2. 2

   A small bag used chiefly by women for carrying various small personal items, sometimes…

   A small bag used chiefly by women for carrying various small personal items, sometimes considered as a fashion accessory.

   • An enormous amount of off-book money sloshes around Chinese business and officialdom, and some of it runs into handbags.
   • In London, of all places, where people are always on the lookout for opportunities to commit crimes: an unzipped handbag, a phone sticking out of a back pocket, an unpadlocked bike.
3. 3

   Ellipsis of handbag house.

4. ›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer

   1. 4

      To attack verbally or subject to criticism (typically used of a woman).

      • ‘Apparently Birt happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time on Sunday afternoon. Virginia saw him and handbagged him. She really was very cross.’

The neighborhood